Building REEAFS: repackaging and personalizing library services to remote marine science facilities

pp. 41-4

Infinite possibilities for learning in a virtual world: second life

pp. 29-3

Creating your career: Minding the gap

The phrase “Mind the gap” can apply to the gap between your current experience and skills and those you'll need in the next position you aspire to in your library career. J. Michael Pemberton explains that minding--and closing--the gap is met primarily through your goals and objectives. To determine what you need to do to meet your career mission, you should develop a gap analysis to make your plan specific. Begin to think of yourself as chief of strategic planning for “You, Inc.,” and act accordingly. Often in librarianship, unforeseen and unplanned career opportunities arise. This presents a unique challenge in “minding the gap.” Two librarians who were hired into new positions that were not part of their strategic plan discuss how they “minded the gap” and made successful transitions into positions that unexpectedly came along

Infinite possibilities for learning in a virtual world: Second Life

Second Life, an online virtual world with millions of “residents” is an effective tool for collaboration and experiential learning. Residents, represented by an avatar, can interact with one another using voice or chat and can explore a 3D world filled with learning objects. Avatars can “teleport” to other countries, speak to anyone in the world, attend virtual conferences, endlessly swim in the ocean, sail the seas without experience, fly to the moon, and build any object of their own that their imagination can create. There is an abundance of places to explore and groups to join focused on science. The Second Life Science Center, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory, the International Spaceflight Museum, the Exploratorium, CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Second Nature Island, and the SciLands are just a few examples. Colleges and universities have populated Second Life with campuses, libraries, and interactive learning areas related to disciplines such as science. Explore the possibilities of Second Life with us while we take you on a tour and discuss the infinite potential for collaboration and learning with this Web 2.0 technology

Performance of the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus in early disease, across sexes and ethnicities.

Funder: American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000960Funder: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000069Funder: European League Against Rheumatism; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100008741OBJECTIVES: The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2019 Classification Criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been validated with high sensitivity and specificity. We evaluated the performance of the new criteria with regard to disease duration, sex and race/ethnicity, and compared its performance against the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) 2012 and ACR 1982/1997 criteria. METHODS: Twenty-one SLE centres from 16 countries submitted SLE cases and mimicking controls to form the validation cohort. The sensitivity and specificity of the EULAR/ACR 2019, SLICC 2012 and ACR 1982/1997 criteria were evaluated. RESULTS: The cohort consisted of female (n=1098), male (n=172), Asian (n=118), black (n=68), Hispanic (n=124) and white (n=941) patients; with an SLE duration of 1 to <3 years (n=196) and ≥5 years (n=879). Among patients with 1 to <3 years disease duration, the EULAR/ACR criteria had better sensitivity than the ACR criteria (97% vs 81%). The EULAR/ACR criteria performed well in men (sensitivity 93%, specificity 96%) and women (sensitivity 97%, specificity 94%). Among women, the EULAR/ACR criteria had better sensitivity than the ACR criteria (97% vs 83%) and better specificity than the SLICC criteria (94% vs 82%). Among white patients, the EULAR/ACR criteria had better sensitivity than the ACR criteria (95% vs 83%) and better specificity than the SLICC criteria (94% vs 83%). The EULAR/ACR criteria performed well among black patients (sensitivity of 98%, specificity 100%), and had better sensitivity than the ACR criteria among Hispanic patients (100% vs 86%) and Asian patients (97% vs 77%). CONCLUSIONS: The EULAR/ACR 2019 criteria perform well among patients with early disease, men, women, white, black, Hispanic and Asian patients. These criteria have superior sensitivity than the ACR criteria and/or superior specificity than the SLICC criteria across many subgroups

European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) SLE classification criteria item performance.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2019 classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus system showed high specificity, while attaining also high sensitivity. We hereby analysed the performance of the individual criteria items and their contribution to the overall performance of the criteria. METHODS: We combined the EULAR/ACR derivation and validation cohorts for a total of 1197 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and n=1074 non-SLE patients with a variety of conditions mimicking SLE, such as other autoimmune diseases, and calculated the sensitivity and specificity for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and the 23 specific criteria items. We also tested performance omitting the EULAR/ACR criteria attribution rule, which defines that items are only counted if not more likely explained by a cause other than SLE. RESULTS: Positive ANA, the new entry criterion, was 99.5% sensitive, but only 19.4% specific, against a non-SLE population that included other inflammatory rheumatic, infectious, malignant and metabolic diseases. The specific criteria items were highly variable in sensitivity (from 0.42% for delirium and 1.84% for psychosis to 75.6% for antibodies to double-stranded DNA), but their specificity was uniformly high, with low C3 or C4 (83.0%) and leucopenia 80% for all items, explaining the higher overall specificity of the criteria set

One Size Does Not Fit All: A Programmatic Approach to Course-Integrated Library Information Literacy Assessment in an Academic Library

Randall Library at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) has developed and implemented a course-integrated approach to information literacy (IL) instruction assessment. UNCW librarians have created various assessment tools to measure specific student learning outcomes for IL components in academic departments across campus. The panelists will discuss the instruments used to evaluate IL outcomes in UNI 101/201 (First-Year Seminar), COM 200 (Research Methods in Communication Studies), HST 290 (The Practice of History), and EVS 495 (Seminar in Environmental Studies). Each of these courses has been designated as an information literacy intensive course within UNCW’s general education curriculum. First-Year Seminar students complete an information evaluation assignment following their mandatory library IL sessions, and a team of librarians assess their responses based on a rubric developed in-house. In COM 200, following IL instruction sessions, students complete a test designed by both the course instructor and librarian. The history librarian assesses the HST 290 students’ final research papers for demonstrated history-specific IL skills using a rubric. And within EVS 495, a questionnaire is used to assess students’ IL skills both before and after a required consultation with the sciences librarian. Additionally, librarians have assisted the campus in assessing IL skills using a modified version of the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Information Literacy Value Rubric. This rubric is used to assess IL skills in a variety of course across disciplines and across course levels. The panelists will reflect on what has worked, what has not, and future assessment plans

Laser-triggered electron source for x-ray applications

We report the results of the development of an electron source , based on the emission of electrons from plasma . The plasma electron source delivers emission currents of more than 1 A, based on a laser-induced discharge plasma and grid-controlled electron emission. Circuit times of less than 1 µs and temporal modulation strongly connected to laser burst duration were measured. X-ray imaging verified high brightness and low emittance of the electron beam

International Multicenter Evaluation of Autoantibodies to Ribosomal P Proteins

Autoantibodies to the ribosomal phosphoproteins (Rib-P) are a serological feature of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The reported prevalence of anti-Rib-P antibodies in SLE ranges from 10 to 40%, being higher in Asian patients. The variation in the observed frequency may be related to a number of factors but is dependent in large part on the test system used to detect the autoantibodies. An association of anti-Rib-P with central nervous system involvement and neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE has been controversial. In the present international multicenter study, we evaluated the clinical accuracy of a new sensitive Rib-P-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on recombinant Rib-P polypeptides. The results showed that 21.3% of 947 SLE patients, but only 0.7% of 1,113 control patients, had a positive test result (P < 0.0001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and diagnostic efficiency were determined to be 21.3%, 99.3%, 95.6%, 62.2%, and 65.3%, respectively. When evaluated in the context of participating centers, the prevalence of anti-Rib-P antibodies was found in descending frequency, as follows: China (35%) > Poland (34%) > Japan (28%) > United States (26%) > Germany (Freiburg; 23.3%) > Denmark (20.5%) > Germany (Berlin; 19%) > Mexico (15.7%) > Israel (11.7%) > Brazil (10%) > Canada (8%). The substantial data from this study indicate that the prevalence of anti-Rib-P antibodies may not be restricted to the genetic background of the patients or to the detection system but may depend on regional practice differences and patient selection. We confirm previously reported associations of antiribosomal antibodies with clinical symptoms and serological findings. Remarkably, we found a lower occurrence of serositis in Rib-P-positive lupus patients